Machine for wax coating comestibles



June 17, 1958 R. N. MAYNARD 2,839,024

MACHINE FOR WAX COATING COMESTIBLES Filed Feb. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ii 95 T INVENTOR as I y RobertNMa nard mggmw a? 86 June 17, 1958 R. N. MAYNARD MACHINE FOR WAX CQATING COMESTIBLES Filed Feb. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RobertNMaynmi United States Patent Office 2,839,024 Patented June 17, 1 958 MACHINE FOR WAX COATING COMESTIBLES Robert N. Maynard, Gasport, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application February 14, 1955, Serial No. 487,762

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 118-18) other object of the invention is to provide for metered drip dispensing of either hot or cold liquid wax to achieve a-uniform coating of produce. A further object of this invention is to provide a liquid wax dispenser having a plurality of spaced apart metering stations which are actuated in unison and which may be adjusted for drip control either individually or simultaneously.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a metering station for liquid wax dispensing in drop form having a reciprocating drip rod which extends in spaced relation through and beyond a dispensing orifice, whereby said drip rod functions as a clean-out for said orifice. It is a further object of this invention to provide reciprocating rods which function as valves, cutting off the flow of wax on each downward stroke. Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide means for actuating said rods which will maintain them to a valve-closed position when the apparatus is not in operation. g

Still further objects and the entire scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific example is given by way of illustration only and, while indicating preferred embodiment of the invention, is not given by way of limitation, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this description.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of this invention, reference is had to the drawings, specification, and appended claim. Throughout the various figures of the drawings and the description in the specification, like reference numerals refer to similar parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary somewhat enlarged side elevational view of the upper part of the apparatus as viewed from the opposite side of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 2 except for the wax dispenser;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view along line 4-4 of Figure 3 showing the dispenser according to this invention;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of thedispenser as viewed along lines 55 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one of the dispensing valves as viewed along line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Turning now to Figure 1, the wax applicator of this invention is generally designated by the numeral 10. It

consists of 4 vertical corner posts 11, upper and lower longitudinal side members 12 and 13, upper and lower end members 14 and 15, and suitable diagonal brace members 16. The motor platform 17, supporting electric motor 18, is disposed at one end of the framework between lower longitudinal side members 13.

Situated in the upper portion of the framework is the Wax dispenser generally designated as and the applicator housing. Reference to Figures 2 and 3 discloses that the applicator housing contains a plurality of parallel rotary brushes 21. Because they are supported by the inclined side member 22, these brushes form an inclined table. Bearings (not shown) for holding the shafts 26 of the brushes may be attached to the inclined members by means such as bolts 23. Produce 24 is carried by the rotation of the table of brushes 21 up the incline thereof as indicated by the arrow in Figure 3. Each of the brushes 21 is caused to rotate by a pulley 25 which is afiixed to each end of the brush shaft 26.

The drive from the motor 18 is to a counter shaft 27 mounted in pillow block bearings 28 attached to diagonal brace members 29. On the counter shaft 27 is mounted the relatively large drive pulley 30 and the smaller end driven pulleys 31. Attached to motor 18 is a small drive pulley 19 connected by V-belt32 to counter shaft drive pulley 30. A pair of idler pulleys 33 and 34 supported respectively on brackets 35 'and 36'serve to guide the drive belts 37 which pass over counter shaft driven pulleys 31 and the brush pulleys 25 rotating the latter counter-clockwise as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The brackets 35 are formed with a plurality of apertures 38 which receive securing bolts to adjustably position the same on diagonal members 29, thus permitting variation of the tension on belts 37.

The lower-most brush shaft 26 drives an additional pulley (not shown) which engages drive belt 39 to drive pulley 41), both shown in Figure 1. Pulley 4 9 is affixed to the shaft 42 of applicator brush 41. Shaft 42 is supported by bearings 43 which are secured to the inter mediate vertical side members 44, best seen in. Figures 1 and 2. Figure 2 discloses that the opposite end of applicator brush shaft 42 has pulley 45 mounted thereon for driving vacuum pump drive shaft 48 through belt 46 and pulley 47. Shaft 48 is supported by bearings 49 on upper side members 12 of the framework. On the end of shaft 48, opposite pulley 47, is mounted a wheel 50 which has crank pin 51 attached thereto for reciprocating rod 52 of the vacuum pump 53. The pump 53 is pivotally mounted at its lower end by a pivot pin 54 to side member 22.

The comestibles to be treated are admitted at the lower end of the inclined table of brushes on chute board 55 and are carried from the upper end of the brush table by discharge chute 56. The table of brushes'21 and the applicator brush 41 are in a housing which consists of side panels 57, end panels 58, top panels 59 and .60, and an inclined bottom panel 61. The entrance and discharge chutes each extend through an opening in the respective end panel, the latter'being provided with curtains 62 and 63 to prevent the accidental discharge of wax into the areasurrounding the machine.

The liquid wax dispenser, generally indicated at 20, is shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5. elongated tank 64 which has a vertical side wall 65 and a relatively narrow horizontal bottom 66. Superimposed upon the vertical side Wall is bracket 67, best seen in Figure 5, which consists of a horizontal shelf portion 68 and a vertical leg 69, the latter being secured by anysuitable means, as bolts 70, to said vertical wall. Bracket- 67 is disposed at approximately the center of the length: of wall 65 and serves as a support for a, vacuum dia-. phragm actuator '71. Front panel 72 of tank 64 slopes It includes an inwardly from the top of the tank while the ends 73 and 74 are vertical. A cover 75 is hinged at 76 to the top of the inclined front wall 72. As seen in Figures 1 and 2 the tank is attached to the framework of the apparatus by brackets 77 which connect the end walls to side frame members. 12. The tank 64 is further secured to the frame. through wall 65, which is. attached to brace member 78, the latter spanning side membersv 12. As shown in Figure 3, tank 64. is positioned so that it will extend downwardly through: the toppanel. 60 of the housing with tank bottom. 66: positioned in a spaced relationship over the wax applicator brush. 41.

The vacuum actuator: 71. is connected by fittings generally indicated at 79 to a tube 80 which leads to the lower end of. vacuum pump 53, as. shown in Figural.

Bottom panel 66.- of the dispensing tank 64 contains a plurality of alined and spaced apertures $1 which are threaded to receive orifice. fittings 82. A suitable drain valve. such. as that shown. at 83 is also attached to the bottom panel. As is best seen in. Figure 6, each orifice fitting 82 has a vertically disposed opening 84 therethrough. The upper portion. of this opening consists of a tapered portion 85 which converges from top to bottomthereof, and the lower extremity of which is delineated by throat portion 86. Throat portion 86 located about midway the length of opening 8 4, communicates with. a. lower aperture portion. 87 which diverges slightly fromflop to bottom.

' Disposed in the vertical opening 84 is a reciprocable valve- 01283 which has a threaded portion 89 at its upper extremity. The threaded portion 89' extends through a bightportion 98 of a- U.-shaped: valve rod mounting bar 97'. A threaded rod 99' supports the valve rodmounting bar 97.- being adjustably secured by nuts 100 and 101 to the? latter. at the; mid; point cfi thev bight portion thereof. The: upper end. of rod 99 is attached by means of. pin 102 to the lower end of a depending rod. 103. Rod 103 extends upwardly through shelf 68 to the diaphram (-uotlshow' n) of: thevacuum: actuator '71. Valve rod 88 is attached to the mounting bar 97- by means of a nut 90 which engages the threaded portion of the valve rod. Eachrod: isbiased. from: the bar 97 by a compression spring 91, the lower end of which is supported by a washer 92. and pin 93.

The lowerendof thevalverod 88, best seen in Figure 6,.consists of two cylindrical portions 94 and 96 whose diameters are unequal; and-less than the upper portion of the rod. Between thetwo reduced cylindrical portions is. aa taperediportion 95 which converges from top to bottom and which is tapered to. a greater degree than the. surrounding tapered. portion. 85 of. the orifice fitting 82; The; smaller cylindrical portion 96. of the valve rod has a diameter which is less than that of throat 86 of theorifice fitting. It also: should be sufiiciently long to extend substantially below the orifice fitting when rod.

there is no vacuum present in actuator 71, mounting bar' 97', valverods 88;'aud' associatedmechanism are pulled downwardly by gravity. until.each:rod88 reaches itscut-ofli In this position with tapers 85 and195 inengagement. manner, closure of the orifice fittings 1 82. isinsuredwhen the metering apparatusof this invention'isshut down, as it occurs automatically when pump. 53 is stopped and av vacuum is no longer. produced in actuator 71;

Each leg'of'the U-shapedivalverod mounting bar 97 isiguided; on one .side'by the vertical wall 65' of the tank,

and Z on the: other side; by. airoller 104- which is mounted on-each" of the-walls 73 .and 74 by means :of pin105.-

As seen in Figure 4, the upward movement of the valve rod mounting bar 9 7 is limited by an assembly which is attached to wall 65 at either end of the tank by screws 106. This assembly consists of lug 107 which has a threaded aperture extending vertically therethrough for receiving cap screw 108. Spring 109 is compressed between lug 107 and the head of cap screw 108 in order to prevent the accidental tightening of the screw. By adjusting each of the cap screws 108, the upwardmovernent of the mounting bar 97 may be varied resulting in the adjustment o'f'the size of the openings at all dispensing orifices in unison. 'Thus, if more drops of liquid wax per unit ot' time are' desired to be dispensed, screws 108 are backed off to permit the valve rod mounting bar 97 to move'further upward on each suction stroke of the piston rod 52 of vacuum pump 53. On the other hand, the relative position of valve rods 88 with respect torod 99- may be adjusted in two difierent ways. The entire assembly comprised of bar 97 and rods 88 may be positioned on rod 99 by means of nuts and 101,-91' each rod; 88 may be' individually positioned with respect to bar 97 by means of nut 90 associated with each rod. Spring 91 permits a yieldable seating of each valve rod in orifice fitting 2, compensating for irregularities between the diiierent valve rods and orifice fittings so as'to permit each orifice fitting to be tightly closed when no vacuum is present in actuator 71.

Dispenser 20 will meter either a hot or a cold wax composition. In. the event that a hot wax is desired, a heating; element 110 is provided together with thermostat rod 111 in the bottom of tank 64. Heating element 110 and thermostat rod 111 are secured toend wall 73 of thetank by means. of fittings 112- and 113 respectively. After passing through terminal-box 114, the leads'from tne heating element are connected to acontrol box 115 permitting adjustment of the temperature by means of a dial. 116. Temperature control box 115 is then connected toa suitable source of power by cable 117.

The wax applicator brush 41 is generally cylindrical and extends the full width of the dispensingtank beneath the linev of orifice fittings 82. Brush 41' is relatively large and fluffy ascompared with the brushes 21 which make up the'brush table. ln operation,comestibles 24-, such as apples, are brought'into the machine'over chute 55 where they arecleaned by the brushes tip-stream from applicator. brush 41'. The rotation of the'table' brushes 2-1-carries the apples into contact with applicator brush-41' which is saturated with wax metered from dispenser 20. Brush 41 and the table brush immediately therebeneath' cooperate to apply a coatingo'fi wax to each apple which continues to'be carried up the inclined table of brushes because of their rotation.- Further tumbling by brushes 21 produces an even distribution of the wax over each oftheapples-whichi are then discharged bychute 56.

The dispenser 20, according to this invention, is

especially efficient in dispensing liquid wax irrmetered drops. Each of the valve rods 33 isso constructed and mounted that it is individually adjustable at all'times to ensureseating on the. tapered portion of orifice 84; At the same time, the valve rod mounting bar 97 may be adjusted to. simultaneously control-the extent of reciprocation-ofall valve rods by adjusting nuts 100 and 101- on actuator rod 99 or by changing the scttingof can screws: 108. r

The timing of the actuator 71 is based on the reciprocating-vacuumipump'53rwhich is operated simultaneously.with1theioperationioflthomotor 13am] the rest of the machine. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the valve rods-are reciprocated in such a manner that they come to rest in: avaNc-closed position when the apparatus: is shut 0H1 The cleaning? andiwaxing' apparatus is simple in construction, yet is very efficient in operation. operatingzwax-i dispenser: with itsmetering control" of dropsi ofhliquidl wax andlwitsi automatically seated: valve rods affords a constant and uniform supply of liquid wax for the applicator brush of the machine.

I claim:

An apparatus for applying a wax-coating to comestibles, comprising in combination a table of rotatable cylindrical brushes for conveying and rotating comestibles deposited thereon; rotary applicator means disposed above said table of brushes for coating the cornestibles carried by the latter; liquid dispensing means including a fluid reservoir, a plurality of discharge orifices in said reservior positioned over said applicator means each having a valve seat therein, a plurality of reciprocal valve rods positioned vertically above said valve seats each having an annular tapered portion thereon for engagement with its respective valve seat, each of said valve rods having a portion thereof extending beyond its annular tapered portion of suflicient length so that said extended portions protrude at all times downwardly through each of said orifices, a central valve rod control bar for withdrawing simultaneously said tapered portions of said valve rods from engagement with'their respective valve seats, adiustable'means on said valve rod control bar for each of said valve rods for limiting said valve rods downward movement with respect to said control bar, a helical spring circumscribing each of said valve rods positioned at one end against said control bar and at the other end by a stopping means on said valve connected to said valve rod control bar so as to periodically withdraw said valve rods from engagement with said valve seats during operation of said actuator means, said actuator means comprising a pressure responsive diaphragm actuated by a periodic variable pressure generator; and a central driving means for rotating said cylindrical brushes and said applicator means and for supplying energy to said variable pressure generator whereby inactivation of said central driving means stops the rotation of said table of cylindrical brushes and applicator means and simultaneously seats the tapered portion of said valve rods in their respective valve seats to stop the flow of liquid from said reservoir.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,064 Stone July 23, 1901 1,635,139 Neckles July 5,.1927 1,689,974 Shallcross Oct. 30, 1928 2,033,044 McDill et a1. Mar. 3, 1936 2,081,758 Milmore May 25, 1937 2,663,459 Lagrange Dec. 23, 1953 2,693,932 Richards Nov. 9, 1954 2,700,953 Howe et a1. Feb. 1, 1955 2,710,128 Anderson June 7, 1955 

